safety net

“It's just dumb to approach retirement with a bunch of credit-card debt.”
That’s the response of one personal finance expert to a recent Demos study on older Americans and credit card debt. My research found that among low- and middle-income Americans carrying credit card...

What would you do if you were laid off from a job? While you looked for a new position, you’d likely cut expenses as much as possible and begin drawing on any savings you have to pay the bills you can’t avoid. As time went on, you might turn to family, friends, and community...

David Brooks recently wrote, contrary to my last blog, that Mitt Romney is neither too rich nor elite to truly represent the American people. Brooks claims that Romney -- whose father was CEO of GM and governor of Michigan -- is actually more akin to a “striving immigrant” than to a...

Consumer borrowing can be a powerful sign of economic confidence, an indication that households are feeling flush and assured of their future ability to pay back debt without undue difficulty. So when the Federal Reserve reported late last week that Americans borrowed more this June than they had...